Golf Course Homes In Minneapolis

First, the bad news for the game: Since 2006, Minnesota has seen 14 golf courses close, including Edina’s famous Fred Richards Golf Course in 2014. Nationally since 2003, some 4 million golfers have quit playing.

The downswing has been attributed to the high cost of playing the game and the lack of time people have for it.

Minneapolis Golf Homes Buyers Market

But experts insist the game has a bright future, especially in Minnesota, which has the most golfers per capita in the nation, according to the U.S. Golf Association. Golfers, they say, remain passionate about the game, and the decline in play has leveled off and stabilized over the past two years.

There’s a silver lining for those who have long dreamed of owning a Twin Cities home on a golf course: it’s a buyer’s market.

Here are five tips to consider if you’ve been thinking about investing in a home in a Twin Cities area golf community:

A very small percentage of homes on a typical golf course are hit often by stray balls, but it does happen to some homes. If you don’t want to put up with replacing windows or seeing golfers in your yard looking for their errant shots, play the course before choosing a home. This will give you a feel for the homes that are most likely to have these things happen. These areas tend to be along the right side of fairways, closer to the tee, because most golfers slice their drives to the right and don’t hit with much distance.

Read a golf course community’s homeowner association restrictions carefully before buying. Some will prohibit erecting netting to protect your home from stray shots. Other associations might forbid you from simply walking onto the course from your backyard and starting play on that hole.

Drive a hard bargain. With the decline in golfing in recent years, golf course communities are a buyer’s market. Don’t be afraid to offer a low price to start negotiations, and stay low with follow-up offers.

Realize that you don’t have to be a golfer. Most people who live on golf courses aren’t. Only an estimated 25 percent of people who live on golf courses have memberships to play on the course. Instead, they enjoy not having a neighboring home right behind them, as well as the serenity and scenic views created by the golf course’s constant landscaping maintenance.

Look for a golf community that provides other amenities, such as a pool or pedestrian paths for walking, either yourself or your dog, and biking, since you can’t do these things alongside the golf course’s fairways. You want to find a community that offers balance for your activities, since you won’t likely be playing golf every day, even if you are a golfer.

We hope you have found this information useful as you consider golf course living. Contact us soon and we’ll help you determine whether it’s something you want to take a swing at.